Our Family Adventures

Wednesday, December 28

2011-12-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

A couple pictures from Christmas morning with Santa's surprises :-) Santa saved the dollhouse for last and put that one in the basement :-) She is having lots of fun with her new toys and things

Brenna's new outfit from Santa (oh, and did I mention that Brenna had a haircut on the 23rd - she loves her new short hair) - doesn't she look so grown up???

New dress and scooter from Divine Ms. Gammy - so sweet

New hat and gloves from Dave and Shannon - such a cutie!

Hello All!!!

I was doing so well with my blogging in October, but November and December have went by quickly! I have been very busy with work and making 3 costumes for Brenna's dance group. We had a very nice Thanksgiving and Christmas here. We also managed to squeeze a quick trip to Disney World in as well (lots of fun pictures with the characters from there).

Brenna decided she wanted to have her hair cut shorter so we cut off several inches on the 23rd (at my hairdressers) - I was so sad to see her pretty hair go shorter, but maybe someday she will want it long again.

Well, there is lots more that has happened, but I only have a short time to blog today - hope you enjoy some new pics!

Take Care!

Friday, October 28

2011-10-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

so, above - Brenna before school yesterday - she was dressed up as Holiday Barbie (and no, they didn't have dress-up day at school yesterday - that is scheduled for Monday - it will be interesting to see what she choses that day!!!) Below - Brenna modeling the new Carpenter Creation (I am having a very difficult time focusing this week - so I took a break from work and finally sewed this project that has been sitting in my craft room - very happy with the short time it took from start to finish - only about 4 hours).

Dress-up day on Tuesday at dance class

Hello all,

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here (other than the fact that I can't hear anything right now - so frustrating). Brenna's dance studio is having dress-up week - she was holiday barbie yesterday (and she wore that outfit to school too). Brenna enjoyed having some pink around her eyes with a little bit of glitter (although last night at dance she wore eye shadow instead - she loves the kind of make-up that she gets to wear on the stage (including the red lipstick in some of the pics above).

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Wednesday, October 26

2011-10-26T04:42:00.000-07:00

so over the weekend our town had a Halloween Harvest Festival that included a pet costume parade. We dressed up Justice like Air Bud and took him up town (plus with my limited time, some face paint and one of Brenna's shirts was all I had time for). He still got plenty of comments on how cute he was even though he didn't win anything in the pet costume contest (I think he was happy with all the attention he got anyway). The face paint was just the water based stuff that I have been using - I'm impressed it went on Justice's fur so easily.

Can't you hear Justice's plea - "oh, please, dad - let me go play with everyone here - I'll be good - I promise..."

Brenna in the army vehicle they had at the festival

inside the back of the army vehicle

Looking a little fluffy here - but oh, so cute!

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - hoping the time goes somewhat fast the next few days as Dustin is away in Detroit. Brenna has dress-up week at dance this week. She doesn't want to wear the same costume at every event - so it should be interesting to see all of her outfit choices by the end of the month. Yesterday we sprayed her hair pink, she wore the tank dress I made her at Christmas, her silver leggings from this years Halloween costume and some new pink leg warmers.

Well, we have to get ready for school!!!

Take Care

Thursday, October 20th

2011-10-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

Brenna before school pictures yesterday - she didn't want me to take her picture so I tried two things to get some pictures - I got out the remote and let her use it (the picture above and below - of course that one kind of didn't work out like I hoped as she wanted me in the pictures with her - and lets face it - I didn't look nearly as picture perfect as she did :-)

the outfit that Brenna is wearing is part of her Halloween costume - I think this is one costume she will be able to wear all winter :-) She looked like such a Hollywood star with the sparkly top and silver pants :-)she chose to accessorize with her tall boots and pink shrug and necklaces - such a fashionista! However, she didn't want me to take any pictures of her - so I had get her to take a picture with one of the cats (Frankie).

a few weeks ago - we went with our friends to a farm in Wooster for some fall fun. Brenna loved all the cutouts that she could put her head in :-)

The girls on the wagon together

Driving along in my straw tractor :-)

Brenna and Daddy

Emma and Carsten

Playing with the duck races

the girls on the wagon ride - I loved that they held hands right at the start - so cute!

the girls at the end of the ride :-) Emma has such a cute smile :-)

The girls right before the end of our day

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well! Things continue to be very busy here, but I thought I would get the last of my updates blogged. Brenna had school pictures yesterday - she looked so cute in her outfit and curly hair (I just wish she would have wanted me to take her picture too!). The weather is rainy and cool here so I took Brenna to McDonald's play area yesterday and she played for 2 hours - she was so tired and sweaty when we were done (and amazingly enough I only had to buy a drink and an ice cream cone for the 2 hour break that let me get some computer work done :-)

I also included our pictures from the farm in Wooster - the weather was really great for going that day and we all had a great time doing the corn maze as well :-)

Not too much else going on this week - just busy, busy, busy!

Take Care!

Saturday, October 15

2011-10-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

o.k. - I have been a pretty bad blogger lately, but life here at my house has been very crazy. My pictures aren't in order, but here is some of our life since the last blog post. Above, Brenna at a birthday party from last week for our friends' daughter from Germany - I did face painting (I only got one picture of the kids with the face painting - this one of Brenna, so if anyone has any pictures they would like to share, I would really enjoy seeing them. Below, we made an art display wall in our breakfast room - the wire curtain hangers are from IKEA (Dustin goes by there weekly unless he is traveling to elsewhere - like Germany - he is scheduled to go again on Monday - this is like the 3rd or 4th time since my last blog post - at least it seems that way...) Anyway, Brenna loves her art wall - these were for the month of September - we cleared it all off after these pictures for October and our wall is almost full already!

Brenna with two of her jelly fish (or maybe one was an octopus) - anyway, our new kitten, Frankie, was right there hoping to catch one :-)

Since my last blog post, we have adopted two new kittens from an animal shelter close by our house. We have a brother and sister who look almost identical - Brenna likes them to have their collars on so that she can tell them apart (although if one is causing trouble - it is bound to be Frankie, and if one is hiding under the bed, it is bound to be our little girl - Marshmallow (also called Sissie here at home).

Last week with the really warm weather, I took Brenna to the zoo - we had a very enjoyable afternoon there.

my little penguin...

a trip to the Akron zoo isn't complete without sitting on the lion...

pics after our time at the zoo...

Our new little kittens - Marshmallow and Frankie

Brenna decided to be a rock star for Halloween. (Brenna actually wanted to dress up as Hannah Montana's best friend Lily/Lola). So, we bought this great blue wig at Target - she modeled it for me and let me paint a star on her eye - too cute!! (although for the Boo at the Zoo today at the zoo, she wasn't interested in the wig - and with the wind, it probably wasn't a bad idea to skip it).

Frankie at rest - so sweet then...(Marshmallow went and hid under the bed when I got the camera out)

Brenna modeling her new hat that she bought with her birthday money.

My little fashionista...

strike a pose

Brenna dressed up for Boo at the Zoo today. I was going to do face paint, but she asked for make-up instead (as she said, like she had for the dance stage) - I think she looked adorable - although it does make me think that she is growing way too fast!!

what a little model...

Brenna is starting practices for her little dance company - this is one of her new moves from the dance..

another move from the new dance - oh, my - what a face!

sleeping beauty...(only pretending here - she is a good pretend sleeper!!) (and since this is the first picture of her whole costume - I can say that I made the leggings, the pink top, and the white and silver polka dotted top too. She had a feather hair clip in her hair that looked so cute with it (and the clip stays in her hair very well too).

Brenna with Buck - a mascot for Acme supermarket at the zoo

On the Carousel

Brenna with our friends' daughter from Germany (who had the birthday last week) - such little cuties!

oh, boy, Brenna found a bubble maker...

I loved the expression below...

Boo

Modeling the costume (before the make-up) - she wore the costume all day, so I think I made a winner in comfort :-)

of course, Brenna wanted to dress up the pets for Halloween - Frankie as a pirate...

Justice modeling the same pirate hat ...

After the birthday party this week, Brenna wanted her face painted for school the next day - i think she looked very cute for the 5 minutes that we had to paint her face :-)

Hello All,

Hope everyone hasn't given up on me - life has been pretty crazy here. Dustin has been traveling to Germany a lot lately (and he goes again next week - yikes!) and my new job has really started to be very demanding (like life wasn't crazy enough before all of this!).

Anyway, I think I put most of the highlights of life recently with the pictures above - Brenna's most exciting news is the new kittens we adopted about a month ago. Brenna loves holding them and petting them. I finished Brenna's Halloween costume today just in time for Boo at the zoo - now just to get 2 other costumes done before Halloween and I may take a long break from sewing while I am working on this contract job...

Well, I gotta get some other work done! Hope everyone enjoys the pictures - I think the only pictures from between posts that didn't go up was our day at the pumpkin farm from a couple weekends ago.

Take Care!

Tuesday, August 23

2011-08-23T13:47:00.001-07:00

so, in case anyone noticed the black mark on Brenna's hand in her 5 year pics, it originally was a lemur stamp at the zoo - it had a lot of ink and smeared pretty quickly, but looked good at the start...Brenna has now ridden an animal on the zoo carousel from every continent (we picked up the paper last year about riding an animal from each continent, so it only too us about a year to complete...)

One of Brenna's birthday gifts - bubble guns. These are super cool and we found them at Cracker Barrel (just be sure to buy batteries :-)

wow, look at all those bubbles

hmm - where did she learn to be so super spy like??

hmm - maybe I need to reload...

awesome cake made by Divine Miss Gammy :-)

Brenna and Uncle Steven... they played very hard all afternoon.

Brenna and Papa

Brenna got some amazing new gifts - including some new clothes - here she is having a fashion show for Dustin and I with all her new outfits...

Brenna also got a new doll named Nicholas - he along with Mr. Poppers (her new penguin friend) have visited preschool this week.

Brenna wore this cute outfit below to school on Monday - she looked so cute with her tennis shoes and hair bow - Brenna decided she looked like a cheerleader - very cute!

such a cute little model

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Just thought I would take a quick minute and add some pictures from Brenna's birthday to the blog. Brenna had loads of fun at her party and received some amazing new gifts - clothes, Barbie clothes, Barbie and Nicholas dolls, a stuffed animal, books (which we have read all of them now - my personal favorite is a book from Dustin's parents called I Had a Favorite Dress - love, love this book :-), a puzzle, and some other goodies :-) (I will send out the thank you cards after I get her new pictures back on the 2nd of Sept. just in case anyone wonders :-)

It will be another crazy week here - my work is picking up a little bit and Dustin flys off today for Germany again. Hopefully, the week will go by quickly and Brenna and I will find plenty to occupy ourselves. Brenna is ready for dance and acro classes to start up again - I think she was glad to have one week off, but 3 is getting a little long for her - only 2 more weeks until classes start again...

Well, that is about all I have time for today!

Take Care!

Sunday, August 21

2011-08-21T12:14:00.001-07:00

So, Brenna had some special pictures done at Kiddie Kandids for her fifth birthday. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do :-)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! We have had some very enjoyable days here celebrating Brenna's birthday. I can't believe my little girl is already 5 - where did the time go??? Well, our time over the last few days included a trip to the zoo, a birthday meal at Buca de Beppo (which Brenna loved - especially when they sang to her), cookies at preschool, Chuck-E-Cheese, and a great birthday party :-) I think with all the celebrating of her birthday, she can really say that it was one of the best ever :-)

Brenna has developed a sore throat over the last few days, so hopefully that will go away soon and she will be feeling like herself again.

Well, I know there is a lot more I should be blogging about, but my computer time is up for now!

Take Care!

PS - I ordered a ton of these pictures, so if you have a favorite - let me know and I will get one to you :-)

Wednesday, August 17

2011-08-17T06:20:00.001-07:00

we've been making bows here lately (some as gifts - we gave some to her preschool and dance teachers last week - although I think the ones I made yesterday were more fancy ones). I thought I would get to keep this "Browns" bow for my winter hat this year, but looks like someone else loves it and looks adorable in it. Brenna wore the Browns outfit to school today and looked super cute in it :-) Anyway, Brenna did some bow "modeling" for me yesterday - she loved playing model and me having a different voice to be the photographer... For the Browns outfit -she decided to make it even more sporty with some "gum" in her mouth (that is what is between her teeth below)

hmm - this is usually how daddy feels by mid-season with the Browns... (below)

the picture below just says Brenna to me - what a little star :-)

not sure where these looks all came from, but she was sure having fun with it

such a little diva

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. It has been a crazy August here so far. I started a new contract job this month and while the hours haven't been highly demanding yet, it is still an adjustment after not working for 3 years. I really hope this opportunity goes well as I will be working from home and working for the boss I worked for before we moved to Germany (and I always really enjoyed reporting to him :-).

Anyway, Brenna is counting down to her birthday - she can not wait to be 5. Although she said this morning she is also ready to be 10 - I do think she is 5 going onto a teenager...I tried to tell her all the fun things to do with being 5 - hopefully she will think of those, but I'm sure she is going to grow up quickly...

Brenna's summer dance classes have come to an end (they finished last week). Brenna said last week she was ready for the break, but then yesterday evening she was sad that she doesn't have class tonight. Hopefully, when classes start again, she will have fun with both of her classes, but I do think the acro class will be her favorite for the year. She was tumbling around in the basement all evening on Monday. We made her teachers some rice heating pads (or I these are also great in the freezer too) - I added lavender for the first time to the bags, so hopefully they work great for them (I kept the first one I made for now - it is in the freezer and is great to put over my eyes at the end of a long day).

Brenna and I went to her school Carnival over the weekend - she had loads of fun and was very excited that she won the door prize and brought 2 goldfish home (although one is already no longer with us - uh, oh). I am so bummed that I forgot my camera - Brenna sat in the firetruck, sprayed the fireman hose, and got to put a fireman hat and coat on - so cute. Hopefully, I can get the pictures from her teacher.

Dustin competed in the Vermilion tri http://youtu.be/C7m5bBud4v4

The swim was in Lake Erie and they had some major waves, so I am very glad that he finished the swim safely.

Well, that is about all I can think of for now!

Take Care!

Sunday, July 31 Post 2

2011-07-31T14:56:00.001-07:00

Brenna had an enjoyable week of princess camp last week. With the three days of camp, Brenna was able to dress up as Rapunzel, Tiana, and the Little Mermaid. On Thursday, the last day of their camp, the girls had a final performance for the parents and the older girls dressed up as princesses as well. Brenna during the dance...(above and below) - I loved that after the girls finished their dance Brenna advised me that I needed to clap :-)

Picture with the guest princess of the day (this is also Brenna's acro teacher Miss Tori)

The girls that helped at the camp all week (I think Brenna was looking at herself in the mirrors)

Yesterday evening, Brenna and I went to the first Princesses and Pirates night at the zoo. It was so warm, I made Brenna a new leotard with a princess crown in crystals on it and she wore an old skirt from one of her costumes and the crown they made at princess camp. The costume was great for enjoying the bouncy houses at the zoo.

she was all about posing...

I think her new summer hip hop classes has given her some new poses...

Brenna with the character at the zoo when we first got to the zoo

below saying good-bye to the frog on our way out the door

striking another pose (and Justice sneaking into the background)

I love the penguin below with the princess wand...

Brenna loved that some of the area princesses were at the event. First up, Brenna with Miss Akron International

with Miss Cuyahoga county (sorry she blinked and I only took one picture)

with Miss Teen Cuyahoga county

Hello All!!

So, I just had to share these pictures while Brenna and I are having some evening down time. Yesterday evening, Brenna and I went to the first Princesses and Pirates night at the zoo. Brenna had a great time and really loved the bouncy houses they had and the princesses that were in attendance. (and I have apparently overloaded her with the face painting - they had face painting at the zoo, but Brenna wasn't even interested (especially when she found out there was a line)).

Today, Brenna and I enjoyed some additional girl time with a movie (we went to the Smurfs - which we both enjoyed) and the outlet mall (to ride the train) and also finished the grocery shopping :-)

Brenna is also really enjoying playing with her Barbies right now (especially on skype if anyone is ever interested :-)

Well, that is about all for now!

Take Care!

Sunday, July 31

2011-07-31T05:45:00.000-07:00

above, the gift table from the girls' birthday party last weekend (I painted the pony for Mikayla). Below, the name banners I made for the girls. I like the way that Mikayla's turned out the best - I think I will change Brenna's to be the same way...

Brenna and Mikayla got into costumes before opening their gifts...

Brenna modeling her new PJ's that Gammy made her :-)

above - the kids had fun with my point and shoot camera and my camera at Dustin's triathlon last weekend. Below - group picture taken by D.J.

kids having fun running up the hill at Dustin's triathlon...

Dustin competing in a Triathlon last weekend (my mom said I needed to correct my last blog - the sweet corn festival wasn't last weekend, but the weekend before that - last weekend we went to their house where Dustin did the tri and then we celebrated my daughter and niece's birthdays together.) Below - getting to the finish line...

Dustin was lucky to have quite the cheering section this time - Brenna and I went for the first time along with my mom and one our good friends for college and his great family. Brenna had a great time running up the hill with the boys.

pictures from the birthday party - I thought my sister did a great job with these little cake banners - aren't they cute!!

my contribution to the party - chocolate princess crown picks (happy to say that none of the chocolate picks were left at the end of the party ;-)

I loved Mikayla's face when we sang to them - Brenna looked so serious...

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - trying to keep busy while Dustin is away...

Above are our pictures from last weekend - Dustin had a triathlon, we celebrated the girls' birthdays, and we spent the morning on Sunday at the Ft. Wayne zoo with friends.

Friday, July 29

2011-07-29T08:08:00.001-07:00

Brenna above with her new Smurfette and matching hat. I'm sure we will be checking out the movie when it comes out this weekend (especially with Dustin away in Germany...). Below, Brenna at the Sweet Corn Festival.

Brenna and Dustin riding the ferris wheel at the sweet corn festival. The operator of the ride let them stay on forever...

Pictures from the open house at the county jail. Brenna loved petting each horse and finding out their names.

Brenna loves characters in costume :-)

the new vehicle that looks more fitting to the batman movie to me.

Brenna loved the Safety Pup too (even though her classmate from school was a little afraid of him).

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! We have been keeping busy here this summer - and of course I am getting behind on my blogging. I know I already talked about the jail open house, so the pictures are above. We also recently enjoyed the Sweet Corn Festival locally. Brenna was the most excited to go and eat Sweet Corn and see the fireworks. She was even determined enough to see the fireworks to use the bathrooms there (porta potties). We all had a nice evening with Brenna and Dustin riding on the ferris wheel, Dustin winning Brenna a plastic air filled flamingo, and then watching the fireworks. (and even though Brenna dropped her sweet corn after eating only one row, she didn't even get upset :-)

Last weekend, we went to see the Winnie the Pooh movie and afterwards, Brenna made the Smurfette at Build-a-bear. Brenna and I are looking forward to seeing the movie in the next few days :-)

This week, Brenna had Princess dance camp 3 days - she had a great time with it :-) She was able to dress up as Rapunzel (from Tangled), Tiana (from the Princess and the Frog), and Ariel (from the Little Mermaid). We also picked up her pottery that she painted last week (on the 14th she made a footprint in clay and then they transformed it into a flip flop - very cute - we painted it last week). Saturday night we are going to the Princess and Pirate night at the zoo - hope she isn't too princessed out (but I think she will be o.k. since they will have face painting and I think a bouncy house too).

Well, that is all for now!

Take Care!

Sunday, July 17

2011-07-17T06:30:00.001-07:00

so, Brenna and I picked out these Wilton Candy picks at JoAnn's. I didn't buy the chocolate in the same shopping trip, so she had to wait about a week before we tried them for the first time. Brenna loved helping make them (and this was my first time making them, so we did accidently overfill most of the molds). They turned out pretty cute and were delicious :-)

another of my paintings :-) He is another Diddlina character. (It may look like a bunny, but it is a dog)...

I bought a remote for my camera - Brenna was in love with it :-)

Brenna getting us all in the picture

I tried to get some new pics of Brenna at the park - she was o.k. with the idea of pictures before we got to the park, but not much interested once we got there.

most of the looks she gave me....I think they even included an eye roll....

finally some real smiles once we went to the playground...

Brenna showing her puppy dog face...

Brenna and I met a new friend named Koda - he is only 8 months old and he had some huge paws...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - just trying to beat the heat. I have been getting Justice out most mornings for a walk (he is so used to it that if I try to sit at the computer before his walk - he sits and whines at me - spoiled dog!).

Brenna and I did some fun activities during the past week - we went to the park, we went and had her foot impression done in clay (and then made it into a flip flop) at the local pottery place (you will have to wait a few weeks to see the finished product), and we went to a kids concert in the park. On Friday evening, we went to the local sweet corn festival and Brenna and Dustin rode on the Ferris Wheel together and then she rode a few other kiddie rides there. Brenna was the only one of us that wanted the sweet corn so late in the evening and unfortunetly it was slippery and fell on the ground after only eating about a row of it, but she handled it like a trooper. We also stayed late and watched the fireworks, so Brenna braved the port-a-potties at the event (they were pretty nasty too - we both had to hold our breath in there!). Daddy won her a great new plastic blow-up flamingo - she loved having it for the wait for the fireworks. On Saturday morning, we went to the open house at the county jail. Brenna really had a good time and we were lucky that one of her preschool classmates happened to be there for the jail tour (Brenna said that was the best part of the morning). It was a neat event for the kids as they had the mounted police there, the smoke house for the kids, and a bounce house (Brenna's second favorite thing about the open house). We also ran into one of Brenna's classmates from the daycare she went to up until age 2. The girls didn't remember each other, but they had fun playing in the bounce house together. The food at the open house was free, so we had a great lunch of hamburgers, homemade donuts, cookies, and slushies. The people who organized the event really did a great job. (and they had some interesting things for the adults too - they had out the Hazmat vehicle and equipment, their new armored vehicle - which looked like it belonged on the set of a Batman movie, and some of their old vehicles). Brenna also really enjoyed seeing Smokey the Bear and Patches the safety pup.

In the afternoon, we went to the new Winnie the Pooh movie and then walked around the mall since it was so hot outside. Daddy treated Brenna to a new friend from Build-a-Bear (she picked Smurfette).

Well, that was the highlights I think! (and I will have to share pictures from Saturday later - I haven't put them on the computer yet).

Take Care!

Saturday, July 9th

2011-07-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening (above) - we went to an Akron Aeros (Brenna's first baseball game) - I'm not sure how well she liked watching the game, but she really enjoyed sitting with her friend Isabel and she loved the fireworks after the game. Brenna also really the ballpark food of cotton candy, soft pretzel and dip-n-dots :-) Below, we went to the Smucker's ice cream social today - lots of fun for the kids and really great prizes!! To start off the event, Brenna rode on their train (and got to ring the bell the whole way around).

All of Brenna's winnings :-) I would say she did pretty well with her new hat, a cake mix, a cookie mix, some cookbooks, a sundae bank, a jar of peanut butter, 3 ice cream scoops, and some new color change bowls (that the ice cream came in).

mmm - chocolate cookies

Brenna and I met the Pillsbury Doughboy :-)

the train

Hello All!!

I am only going to put up a short post today - just wanted to share our pictures from last evening and today at the Smucker's ice cream social. We all had a very fun week with Dustin being home for the week - we went to the area Splash Pad twice, went mini-golfing, and also the Akron Aeros game.

Well, gotta put Brenna in bed!

Take Care!

Tuesday, July 5

2011-07-05T07:28:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3cGNGeLlCg
You can watch Brenna's preschool singing performance at the above link. She was excited to go perform, but a little bummed when I told her that she wouldn't be receiving flowers like she did for her dance performance...Below - Brenna in the fire truck that was at the church for the community festival.

Brenna and daddy also checked out the helicopter there - but Brenna was more interested in heading to the bouncy house slide that was at the church - she could have played on it for hours...

On the 26th of June, daddy had a chance to join us at the Akron zoo - Brenna had a great time with him!

showing off her stamp (when you go into the akron zoo, there is a cart with items to buy on it, we found out this winter that the kids can also get a free stamp there - so that is something Brenna always enjoys there as well).

riding the pink flamingo :-)

the week of the 27th, Brenna and I played with her colored crayola bubbles. (pink of course, although on her skin and mine they looked more red...). I had read some user reviews online that these stain clothes and the sidewalk, but we didn't have any problems with Brenna's swimsuit and the backyard grass :-)

on Sunday (the 3rd), we checked out the Cleveland Children's Museum. Brenna enjoyed their messy craft (which is their name for it) when they made some orange slime :-)

Brenna also enjoyed the water play area they had for the kids to play in and the climbing thing they had at the museum. The museum is really good for kids when they enjoy pretend play (they have a nice room right now with astronaut stuff and they have a nice "barnyard", playhouse area (including a doctor's office, living room, and grocery store)). Brenna really enjoyed the play area, but would have enjoyed having someone her own age to play with there.

On Sunday, we also went to Vermillon to the beach there - great area to put your feet in Lake Erie.

Then, yesterday, we enjoyed the day with Dustin's family. I have to say that Uncle Steven wins the prize in my book for most fun playing with the sprinkler - he and Brenna had a great time :-) Brenna loves her Uncle Steven and she really enjoyed playing with him all day yesterday :-)

we didn't bring a swimsuit with us, but Divine Miss Gammy came up with a great top for Brenna :)

Hello All!!

Hope all is going well out there! Things are good here - trying to enjoy summer :-)

Brenna had lots of fun at her preschool singing at the church's community fest. You can check out the video above. (Although I think what she really loved was the bouncy house slide - she would have been happy to stay and play on it all day).

The day after the church community festival, we enjoyed the great summer weather at the Akron zoo :-) I really love that zoo and so glad that we got a membership :-)

Brenna is enjoying her summer dance classes - she loves the acro class on Thursday (in fact, she was so impatient to go this week to class that we enjoyed watching the mini movement ballet and tap class because we got there very early). (That and she thinks that her class is the same time that the class during the year was).

We had a very nice family 4th of July weekend. Brenna helped me make cookies here at home, we went to the Cleveland Children's museum, spent the day with family and enjoyed the beach at Vermillon.

Well, that is about all I can think of to post for now!

Take Care!

Friday, June 24th

2011-06-24T04:12:00.001-07:00

so, this post finally catches up on pictures from May and some pictures taken in June after Brenna's dance recital. Above, my mom and Brenna before the dress rehersal. Below, my beautiful birthday cake that Dustin's parents did for me - isn't it pretty!

Brenna and I playing in the backseat on the way to a wedding.

Daddy and Brenna at the hot outdoor wedding...

shortly after my birthday, Brenna's school had a face painting day - I did all the painting on the kids faces, but before we got there, we had to stop at all our railroad tracks (we cross 3 on the way to school each day) for these little "trains"

Brenna's class with all the face painting

I did Brenna's face at home before we went to school to save some time (which was a good thing as I finished all the kids shortly before lunch)

Last week when the weather was nice, Brenna and I went up to the Akron zoo. Brenna of course enjoyed the carousel, farm land, and the jelly fish wall the most. We also had our first experience with the touch tank being open - I think Brenna really enjoyed touching those animals...

giving the snow leopard a hug before we left...

Brenna after her first night of Acro classes - she loved all the tumbling. I didn't get any pictures, but Brenna also started hip hop classes this week. I think she will really enjoy having both of these classes this summer!

Hello All!!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things have been good here - I am really surprised how fast June is flying by here!

Brenna had last week off from dance class, so we tried to fill our time in other ways (especially with Dustin being in Detroit all last week). We went to the zoo, made some homemade sidewalk chalk paint, took lots of walks, and had some friends over for the day. This week has been pretty quiet so far - lots of rain here this week (the weather has been so terrible this year, Brenna hasn't been in her new sand box at all :-(

Brenna is very excited that her preschool class gets to "perform" at the church's community event tomorrow. They have several songs that they will be singing - I will try to get either pictures/video of it - I'm sure it will be cute!

Speaking of cute sayings, I told Brenna last week that she was a bed hog - she woke up the next morning (she tends to crawl into our bed in the middle of the night these days) and asked if she was a hedgehog. It was really cute when she asked me about it!

Well, that is about it for now!

Take Care!

Sunday, June 12

2011-06-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

wow - two days in a row with new blog posts!! Thought I would share some of our fun from Saturday (and I actually have some time to get a post up right now). Anyway - Brenna in her PJ's on Saturday morning looking cute above. Playing dress-up with Isabel below.

little Tinkerbell...

the girls enjoyed seeing themselves in the mirror with each costume change...

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader...

It was really great that my mom had a chance to visit for a few days (although they went too fast). On Saturday, we also tried a recipe we have been dying to make - a genuine Linzer torte (the recipe was from my German teacher) - it turned out great (and no surprise here for anyone who knows Dustin - one of these pie pans is already empty).

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! We are all recovering on our sleep schedules after Brenna's late night recitals. Yesterday, Brenna got to have one of her friends over for the afternoon - they had a great time playing together (even though Brenna got really tired at the end of the afternoon).

My mom and I also made a Linzer torte from my German teacher's recipe. It turned out really well (this time) :-)

We had a pretty quiet day here today. My mom went back home (we were all sad to see her go - come back and visit soon), Dustin and Brenna went to the grocery store, and we all took some walks around the neighborhood. I am hoping to be healthy here again soon - I have had a sore throat since Wednesday and my voice sounds kind of froggy right now.

Well, I think that is about all for now!

Take Care!

Saturday, June 11th

2011-06-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

Here is my adorable little dancer. Brenna had her dance recital on Thursday and Friday night (and dress rehersal on Wednesday) - she had a great time and really enjoyed being on stage. The pictures above and below were from before Friday nights performance. I love in the one below she was fanning herself.

showing off some faces...

gotta love Justice in the background...

Brenna spent the afternoon on Thursday and Friday with curlers in her hair - doesn't she look cute even with the curlers??!!

below - a picture from before opening night on Thursday...

Brenna's fans after the show...(aka - Daddy)

Brenna in her finale costume (she was very tired by this point on Thursday and Friday - way past her bedtime...)

Brenna and Divine Miss Gammy on opening night

Brenna and Papa on opening night

Brenna and mommy on opening night

Brenna's dance class with her teacher - Ms. Lindsay

Brenna's student assistant - Ms. Marli - she was also in the recital the last two nights - she helped out back stage and did a ton of dances too...

the owner of the Dance House - Ms. Amy

Brenna and Gammy Janice on Friday night

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! I have been getting further and further behind with my blogging lately - I have several days worth of pictures to share, but I thought I would share the most recent - Brenna's dance recital. Brenna had lots of fun in her dancing class all year and did had a great time at the dance recital on Thursday and Friday night - (and she did a great job on stage too). Brenna participated in her class tap routine and also in the group finale. The girls all did a great job and the performances were a joy to watch.

Brenna has said this morning that being on stage was "Happy" - she really looked like she enjoyed herself up there.

Also, a special happy birthday wish to Papa Carpenter! Hope you have a great day!! We love you!

Well, that is all for now!

Take Care

Saturday, May 28

2011-05-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

wow - I really shouldn't go so long between posts - my pictures on the camera have been piling up, so I hope you enjoy a long post of pictures today! Anyway - on Mother's Day, I finished this great looking bag for Dustin's mom - I think it turned out adorable! M.E. - I hope you enjoy it :-)

all the girls on Mother's Day (striking a "Brenna" pose)

I love this pic of Dustin's parents - I think it shows there great sense of humor :-)

Brenna sneaking into the picture with Gammy and Papa - she has been a little camera diva lately - check out all her recent pictures below in the post...

Brenna with Aunt Margee - aren't they sweet together :-)

Brenna and Great Grandma - some more great smiles :-)

Brenna decorating Papa's shoes...she loves those dandelions

We also recently went to one of our god-daughter's 6th birthday parties (where did the time go???). I did face painting for all the girls at the party, but I think I should have taken a different camera - Dustin did a lot of the pictures of the girls and he didn't realize how far back he needed to be from them to focus the camera. A lot of my pictures were blurry, but I did take this one of Brenna later in the evening. I still really need to practice my black outlines, but I do think I am getting better. All the girls loved the glitter and getting their lips painted too :-)

Brenna getting into her dress-up clothes on the rainy days...

So, when Brenna was playing with her mask here, she suggested covering the eyes for a sleeping mask - we made a quick one and Brenna thinks it is great (the first few days she had it, she took it with her to bed and put it on in the morning when she woke up :-)

On Monday, Brenna and I were working on cutting out letters from our magazines when we came across this pirate cake idea. Since the weather outside was raining, we decided it was a great day to try it out. Brenna decorated the cake with about half the marshmallows before she decided they were better to eat than put on the cake. She also didn't want a skull and crossbones on the front - she wanted a swirl instead :-) The cake was really good, but didn't last long in our house - it was gone by Tuesday evening....boy, I think someone should have had a stomach ache from all the cake they ate and it wasn't Brenna and I...

gotta get the cutie with the cake. She couldn't wait to dive into the cake, but she managed to hold off until Daddy got home.

finally getting to have a piece of cake - can you just hear Brenna say "Mom, lets just eat it already - you have enough pictures!"

Brenna on her last day of dance class (until the summer session). They have their recital in less than 2 weeks now. I'm glad that she has really enjoyed the classes - I hope she continues to have fun with them :-) I just love the shades with the leotard and jean jacket.

Brenna's cute outfit for Friday - I love her choices for just "around the house" clothing.

(love the tinkerbell slippers with the outfit!) (can you tell the sunglasses were recently found after being hidden away for awhile. She is such the diva - she doesn't wear these in the cars to block out the sun, just when mommy is taking her pictures this week, lol!)

Also, a new purchase this week was hair curlers. We are requested to curl the girls' hair for the dance recital, but I didn't have any curlers here. So we tried two different ones - this was our second attempt and the more successful day. The following pictures were all taken today - (I know there are several outfit changes - Brenna put on a fashion show for us after we got home from the mall - we found some really awesome deals at Macy's today). The pictures at the top were pretty much right after the curlers came out - the others at about 5 pm today - Brenna loved having the curls all day today (especially since she slept with the uncomfortable curlers in her bed last night). (and I think she really loved how many comments she got at the mall on how adorable she looked!)

Brenna showing me her sad face...

sporting a different headband, and this picture was after lunch, ,so the curls had relaxed a bit more, but still looking too cute!

found a pair of pretty pink clip on earrings too...

modeling one of her new dresses from Macy's today - Brenna loved this dress so much, that she had to change into in the car when we left the mall (in the parking lot). (She loved that she got to say she was going to turn the back seat into a dressing room too - (this is a line from one of Brenna's favorite movies)).

(we found this necklace when we were looking for the headband - the headband looked perfect with the black and white dress she had on)

I loved this top so much at the store (in fact, had it not been for me liking this top (and pants) so much, we may have left Macy's without realizing how inexpensive the rest of the items really were - good thing they have those price scanners)

hmmm- wonder how long she will have white pants....

my best bargain dress below - less than $3 before taxes - I couldn't pass up that deal!

ah, the last picture (and the last picture I took on the camera today!)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things have been good here - tired of all the rain - I am certainly out of indoor activities for Brenna and I (although I am lucky that she can find almost anything fun - we even made it fun to mop the floors by pretending to be Cinderella mopping the floor on our hands and knees).

I can't believe the number of days I keep going between posts, but it seems I am averaging 4 posts a month right now, so as long as I do another one before Tuesday, I will still be doing o.k. for the month (sorry followers!).

Anyway, I had all the wonderful pictures above to share and also just had to share my crazy day here today. Nothing seemed to go right today - my Nook (book reader) broke (at least there is a replacement one coming in the next week or two), I dropped the new wireless computer mouse in the dog's water bowl (the only open water on the whole first floor and somehow it was drawn to it!), we had a new washer delivered and installed today - as soon as the delivery guys drove away, I noticed I had water coming out from under the machine - turns out that the drain hose on the washer was damaged (looks like it may have been cut when the box was opened) (but lucky for me I have a handy husband - yeah the new washer has now successful washed 2 loads and the whole family "enjoyed" watching the first real load of clothes), and when Brenna and I left the house today, we left the garage door open (for the several hours that we were gone today - oops!). I'm glad that the only real problem that we may have from these oops and bummer moments is a broken computer mouse (but man, I didn't want to touch anything all afternoon for fear that I would break it). Brenna kept my spirits up today - she was a little ray of sunshine all day (and loved her curly hair for the day). I sure hope tomorrow is a better day!

I have been really bad with starting new projects here lately (and I am not doing a great job with finishing them). I have been working on both digital and paper scrap books (I just did a digital book for Rome - it is so crazy to look at those pictures and see how much Brenna has grown, but what is really funny to me is that in Rome, Brenna didn't want me to take her pictures at all, and then this week, she couldn't seem to get enough of me taking her picture, lol). I also got my mother's day (and birthday) gift out and have been playing with my new Accuquilt GO! machine. I'm really glad I requested two dies from the internet for my birthday from Dustin - they are making the new quilt I started go much easier. Maybe one of these days I will be able to work on just one thing at a time, but I doubt it (although maybe this is why I'm so scattered all the time lately!).

I almost forgot that my sister and I had a road trip last Friday evening to meet on of our idols - Amy Butler was in St. Mary's, Ohio. It was really neat to meet her and Lisa Lam, another author (who wrote this really great book on bag making). Hopefully, Renee will send me some pictures of our great evening soon - in keeping with my scatter-brained ways, I forgot to take any of my Amy Butler patterns to be signed and I forgot my camera. Brenna and I enjoyed the Ft. Wayne zoo in the morning last Friday and then she really enjoyed staying with my parents for the evening. (Too bad that she had dance class on Saturday morning so we had to leave pretty early to drive back across the state...) But, we both had a really great time...

Dustin competed in his first triathalon of the season today - he had a great swim (and he did well on the run and bike too). Hopefully, we will be able to get Brenna and I out to enjoy at least one of his races this season.

Well, I think our pictures speak for the rest of what has been going on - hope you enjoy them!

Take Care

Sunday, May 8th

2011-05-08T17:38:00.001-07:00

Hello All!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I hope everyone had as nice a mother's day as I did :-)

Hope you enjoy the letter pictures we took - I know I love them :-)

Friday, May 6th

2011-05-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

So, on Wednesday, Brenna got her costume for their June recital. The top pulls down a little too much in the front, so I tried to see how some safety pins in the back did with it. I still think it is coming down farther than I like, but I don't want to make it so that the straps dig into Brenna's shoulders.... Anyway, Brenna loves the costume - and she should - she looks so adorable in it. I practiced putting some make-up on her yesterday (she has to wear make-up for the recital - wow, it makes her look so grown-up!). Anyway, my little diva loved putting the make-up on and then modeling for me :-)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. Things have been kind of crazy here. Justice had surgery to remove a tumor and cyst last week and he has been restricted to not going up and down stairs (which means with my people loving golden retriever, someone is staying on the ground floor with him...). I didn't realize how big his incisions would be - with all the staples and the look of the wound, I almost passed out looking at it on the first day! Then, the staples on his hip wound came out on the second day, so we had to go back to the vet to fix that up (needless to say, after how I was when I picked him up and saw his wounds, they got him right in and patched up). Then, the poor guy had to wear a cone for the whole weekend (until Wednesday) and now we have him in a t-shirt. Boy, am I ready for these wounds to get better.

Brenna has a dance recital coming up in June. Their costumes came this week - aren't they adorable???

Well, I need to go see if I can help with the yard work Dustin is working on today :-)

Take Care!

Monday, April 25th

2011-04-25T16:11:00.001-07:00

Brenna modeling her new white dress and purple flower headband. (My sister made the great headband and I made the dress)

so, I have been planning this dress above since Feb. - I bought the pattern and couldn't wait to try it out (and I even made a dress from this pattern for a gift) - the pattern is pretty easy, but it does take a ton of fabric for a little girl's dress - I'm not sure what Brenna doesn't like about the dress, but I had to bribe her with chocolate for this photo shoot, and she hasn't wanted to wear the dress now that it is done. I'm crossing my fingers when the weather warms up that she will want to wear it (apparently, I made the waist too high for her style - at least that was her one complaint on the dress). But she sure did give me some great pics on the day she wore it for me :-)

Isn't that headband the cutest thing??? It really makes me wish that I looked as good in headbands as Brenna does....

I also decided this week to make some bags up. I thought this was going to be a fairly quick project, but with the embroideries I put on, they did take a lot longer than I expected (in fact, I planned to make 3 or 4 bags, but only got two done). The mice below are on a bag for my niece, Ally. They are little ballerinas - aren't they too cute???

front of the bag - I love the shoes with the name here (and it only works with 4 letters, so I'm really happy that I put on Ally instead of Allyson :-)

the two bags that I finished. Instead of buying an Easter basket for Brenna this year, I made the bag and we set it out for the Easter bunny to fill. This was the first year that Brenna really got stuff from the Easter Bunny at our house - the last two years we did some trips (hard to imagine that we went to Ireland last year and Italy the year before), so we never really did more than a small chocolate bunny at home.

Brenna helped with the choices for Ally's bag - of course, this meant once she liked everything on Ally's bag, she wanted things to be pretty much the same. The only regret that I have on Ally's bag is the white bottom. In hindsight, I would have liked to do a color on the bottom like I added to Brenna's, but I changed my plans after I already started Ally's bag. Karen - if it gets too dirty, we can use some soft fabric paints on the bottom (the bag is only surface washable with the fabric I used and all of the interfacing - so sorry!).

(oh, this bag will be Brenna's new dance bag - I have wanted to make a new bag since September when I found out she needed a dance bag, but haven't gotten around to it). Guess since I finally finished Brenna's curtains and the bag, I can move on to my wish list of projects from October, lol.

Brenna posing with some of the items from Divine Miss Gammy and Uncle Steven. She loved, loved everything she got from all the family that came up yesterday. Brenna has been drooling over these squishy ball things (the item in her hand) at the store, so she is so excited to finally have one - thank you so much to Divine Miss Gammy - what a cool Easter basket!!! I'm not sure how Brenna will be using her new bag (I may have to copy the design of this bag - it is pretty cute!), but so far the strap has already been used as a dog leash (not sure how much I have talked about this, but Brenna loves to use Justice's leashes for her stuffed animals and will also leash up Justice as well, so this "floral" leash will be used often (and I'm sure the bag too)). (Don't you all just love Brenna's "at home" clothes choice today - she wanted to look like a princess today :-)

One of my 2 favorite flowers - thank you so much for the flower Rusty!! I am so sad that I bought a hydrangea from the boy scouts and it died the day after I got it. I never even got a pretty picture of it :-( Hopefully, I can have more success with this pretty flower... Anyone have any words of advice for me on it???

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! We had a great Easter weekend here despite the poor weather (lots of rain here). Last week I was busy making some crafts (I was hoping it would clean up my craft room some, but I have quite a few more projects started than I should). I made some cute tote bags - one for my niece Ally and one for Brenna (we used the bag instead of an Easter basket). We have traveled over Easter the last two years (Dustin always had a good amount of vacation time around Easter in Germany), so this was the 1st year in a while that we could really do an Easter celebration with Brenna. I'm really glad that she attends a Christian preschool right now, as she came home several times this week to remind me that Easter isn't about the bunny and candy, but about Jesus and God.

Anyway, we all did enjoy some outside time on Saturday when we had a break from all the rain (seriously, a flood warning here now with all the rain - and more rain is called for all week - boo!!!). Brenna enjoyed having Dustin home for the long weekend too - they went up to the bike shop in Akron and also to the pool here in town. We really enjoyed having Dustin's family up for Easter lunch (Brenna was so sad that everyone left her house - she could have played until the sun went down with everyone there) and then we went over to friends in town for a great Easter egg hunt. Brenna had such a good day - I told her that I think we will have Easter candy in the house until July 4th now :-)

With all my crafting my week sure flew by! We had a pretty quiet day here today - worked on the letter G and H with Brenna and sorted out the candy that remained here from Halloween and then Brenna and I took a nice nap this afternoon :-) (we had to try to recover from all our partying yesterday).

Well, that is about all for now! Take Care!

Monday, April 18th

2011-04-18T17:17:00.001-07:00

Happy day to our special little girl Brenna - we love you so dearly!!! Brenna helped with the cake decorating :-) We decided a rainbow would be a great decoration and I think it turned out awesome (way better than the frosting job that I did on the cake, oh, well!).

Our cake has 4 layers and is a checkerboard - isn't it pretty???

Brenna being cheesy...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. Things are good here - just finished celebrating Brenna's gotcha "day" weekend :-) I can't describe how special and lucky we are to have Brenna in our lives every day - you are one special little girl and we love you!!!!

Brenna and I stayed busy today doing some fun stuff too - we painted Easter eggs this morning and then went out to the scrapbooking store. We found lots of neat stuff at the scrapbooking store, and we had fun cutting out some shapes (mainly stars - that is what Brenna wanted today). This afternoon, we tried out a recipe for homemade marshmallows - I hope they set up well overnight. Last time I tried to make the marshmallows was in Germany and it was a failure, so I'm hopeful that this time we will be able to cut out some cute shapes :-)

So, that is about all - we had a very good family weekend - nice and relaxing for everyone :-) I wish the weather was nicer, but I'm sure we will have some nice days soon (please - Brenna can't wait to wear her flip flops :-)

Take Care!

Saturday, April 16

2011-04-16T12:54:00.001-07:00

we are celebrating Brenna's gotcha day all weekend - so, to start off the weekend, we tried to get a new family picture (my goal for each gotcha day has been just to spend time as a family, hopefully make Brenna feel special and get a new family picture). So, Brenn and I ganged up on Daddy and got one really good picture (can you belive this was the first picture taken below??). Brenna and I both got our hair cut and styled yesterday - I didn't realize until we left how expensive a morning at the salon would be (oops), but Brenna felt very pampered after having her hair done and her nails too (she had her first salon pedicure :-)

I loved Brenna's smile in the picture below - can you tell I was trying to tell her to move the flower down in the picture??

thought I would try a picture with a book (I've seen this on the photographer's website who took our family pictures in August). I love this one of Dustin and Brenna together (we didn't get one of all of us that turned out like I would like). With the book that I chose - it might have to be on our Christmas cards this year....

Brenna of course, really wanted to take pictures of Dustin and I - with the camera on the tripod it really makes it easy for her to be our photographer :-) I also love that he is holding one of her stuffed animals in the picture - I thought about cropping it out, but I think I like the picture more with him holding her toy :-)

Brenna and I stopped by Hobby Lobby yesterday afternoon for some paint supplies - we got some new canvas to paint on. I've been wanting to paint this horse (he is a very popular character in Germany - part of the Diddlina) on a canvas - I think I did a pretty good job (even if I did use the wrong type of paint for my canvas - it looks good right now ;-)

When Dustin was gone, Brenna, Divine Miss Gammy and I enjoyed an afternoon at Miss Molly's Tea Room followed by some pottery painting. We all painted the cupcake cookie jar below - it is so cute! Now, I just need to figure out what to store in it... I bought some of the vanilla oreos, but it turns out that Brenna only wants those frozen now when she eats them (which I have to give kudos to my mother-in-law there - it really does make the cookies taste better that way).

oh, I was working on Brenna's curtains this week. (under my cupcake cookie jar is the unfinished panel). I finished one panel for her room. I used black out lining for the curtain, but I still am disappointed how much light comes in the room - but Brenna seems to really like the one that is finished (in fact, she told me that she really only wants one now - hopefully, I can get the other curtain finished and hung up in her room still).

Brenna's Gnome that she painted - he is so cute! If anyone has seen the movie Gnomeo and Juliet - Brenna obviously sided with both the red and the blue :-) (and now she would really love some lawn art - she really wants some Gnomes and Flamingos for the back yard - anyone seen any cute ones???)

I finally finished my sister's purse - I love the fabric she donated for the bag - I hope the purse works well for you ;-)

the two new bags :-)

Brenna showing Divine Miss Gammy her favorite picture pose...

Our first tea afternoon :-)

With the weather finally having some nice days, I took Brenna out of preschool early on Thursday and we drove up to the Akron zoo. Brenna loved walking around the zoo, seeing the new baby penguins (I think the one right in front with the yellow band is the boy penguin), riding the Carousel, and feeding the animals at Farmland for the 1st time. I think she could have fed the sheep and goats all day. She also loved time at the rock climbing wall in the Jelly Fish area (that is her favorite part). If anyone wants to go up on a nice afternoon - just left me know - we love spending time at the zoo and Brenna is on a mission to ride every animal on the Carousel :-)

I swear I have a picture so similar to this from the London zoo (below)....

Brenna riding the polar bear (she wanted to ride the dog again, but then decided she would rather have an animal that went up and down - so she just picked an animal close by)

Brenna loves to pose with the statues...

The Easter Bunny is visiting the Akron Zoo - I think Brenna was just as happy to sit in the sparkly chair - hmm - wonder if we could do one like that for her room???

Hello All!!!

Can you believe that I let half of April go by with no posts??? I'm surprised no one has emailed or called to remind me that I need to post something (usually I hear something from my dad - did he stop reading me???).

Anyway, Dustin was gone for 2 weeks in Germany (he went for work and stayed at the hotel I looked out my windows at every day (and walked by on the way to the store/school everyday as well)). Brenna and I were very sad that Daddy was gone for so long. We tried to leave the house as much as possible. I was glad both sets of Grandparents were available for some much needed distraction. On a positive note, we finally got a chance to see my mom, dad, sister, and niece (who we hadn't seen since Christmas). Brenna really enjoyed our time with family - but we were bummed that Justice was sick the 1st weekend that Daddy was gone (at least he never had an accident in my parents' house - but it made it so we were ready to come home and go to the vet so Justice could get better). We never found out why Justice got sick - but he seems to be fine now (other than the tumor on his head that needs removed and the cyst on his rump - poor guy - it is tough getting old!).

We really enjoyed Dustin's mom's visit - we got a chance to enjoy Miss Molly's Tea Room and then painting pottery afterwards. Brenna loved it and I know she is looking forward to our next trip to the tea room :-) Brenna also got a really cool new jewelry box filled with treasures from Divine Miss Gammy - come back soon - Brenna loved playing with you with them :-)

We took a spring break the 1st full week of April (my niece was on spring break that week and so was Brenna's dance class). It was nice being able to see my family, but it would have been nice to have some warmer nicer weather to enjoy. (Oh, and I was so jealous since Dustin was in Germany with sunshine and warm weather). Can you believe I didn't take any pictures while I was at my mom's???

We had a nice family weekend last weekend after missing Dustin so much. He brought home wonderful gifts for us - Brenna loved her chocolate eggs from Germany :-)

This week has gone by fast - I started working (finally) on Brenna's room curtains - I finished one, just one more to go :-) Brenna and I enjoyed having our hair cut on Friday (she also had the special treat of getting a pedicure). We did some painting in the afternoon on Friday as well. I modeled with my picture - wonder if I can get Brenna to hold up her's or sit by it? This afternoon we went out to them movies and saw Rio. Brenna really enjoyed it and the birds were great to see in 3D.

Oh, I almost forgot - Brenna won most Spirited Dancer at her dance studio :-) We were both very excited!!!

Well, that is about all for now!

Wednesday, March 23

2011-03-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

so, Brenna's dance studio had spirit week this week. They asked everyone to dress in their colors of lime green, purple, and black. I also painted Brenna's face purple to go with the theme :-)

Brenna's class :-) (I think Brenna matches the walls pretty well :-)

Hello All!!!

Just had to share some pictures and a video from Brenna's first spirit day at dance school. I made the leotard, tutu, and hair bow. (and I painted her face to match as well :-) (I painted my face too as she will tell you in the video below, but I didn't take any pictures of me (and I didn't get any pictures of Brenna and I together either)....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1-1RC3Hxjw

Hope you all enjoy!

Take Care!

Monday, March 21

2011-03-21T09:56:00.001-07:00

Brenna with her pink outfit from Sunday - I love all the pink from the new headband to the pink shoes (sorry - I had the wrong lense on to get a whole body shot of her - but we did get at least one picture of just the shoes :-)

We also made it around the block today with Justice with the warm weather - here is Brenna after (still loving the pink headband :-) (and her favorite coat - her Hello Kitty jean jacket :-)

I like to have a conversation with Brenna when we take pictures - I have found the best way to get some real smiles from her is to have her talk about her school friends - but sometimes, I catch the picture mid-sentence. (so for me, this is what I see for most of our "photo" sessions - lol).

the smile that followed our chat :-)

Hello All!!!

Just had to share some new pictures of Brenna in the headband I found for her last week at the store (and it was even on clearance :-) She is in love with it - but will only wear it for about 20 minutes or so (which is pretty typical of her with any of her headbands).

We had a pretty quiet weekend here - Brenna was all about hanging out with Daddy (which I was glad for as he is leaving for Germany this week for a week or two - good daddy/daughter bonding time :-) The weather was cooler than Thursday and Friday, but still warmer so I took Justice for some nice long walks and Dustin played with Brenna outside. Brenna is really looking forward to some upcoming time with the Grandparents on both sides - especially for Dustin's mom coming up to stay while Daddy is gone :-) (I'm pretty sure she is going to start a countdown for that on the calendar she has in her room).

Well, that is all for now!

Take Care!

Saturday, March 19

2011-03-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

So, Brenna has a beautiful new dress (for Easter) from Divine Miss Gammy :-) Brenna is in love with the pretty pink dress (and I hope I can get even more cute pictures of her in it :-) Thank you so much Gammy - this was just the type of dress Brenna wanted for spring (and thank you so much for saving me from needing to make her this type of dress - you are the best Gammy!!)

Brenna striking her favorite pose!

hmm - not sure if the toy story hat really fits with the dress - but she still looks adorable....

I have been crazy about making bags here lately (in case you missed that from all the bags I made for my friends baby shower). I loved the one I made in a tote so much (colors), that I made myself a new purse in those same colors. My poor sewing machine had a lot of trouble with all the layers on this bag (I went through a whole pack of jeans needles sewing it - I bent 5 of the needles, but luckily was able to bend the 5th one at the very end so I still have one jean needle left, lol). This bag pattern is from Amy Butler's new sewing pattern book (of bags).

The inside of the bag - already loaded up - I tested it out at the store yesterday - not sure how I am going to like having a magnetic snap closure - but I do like all my inside pockets. (it may only last the summer season - but hopefully I will enjoy how pretty it is for that summer :-)

Brenna modeling it for me in her PJ's :-)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here. It was a fairly quiet week here - the biggest excitement was dressing in green for St. Patrick's day and the beautiful sunny weather that was here for Thursday and Friday. I made a new bag for myself this week - I like the style of the bag, but the thickness was almost more than my sewing machine could handle :-(

Brenna also enjoyed modeling her new pink dress from Gammy this week - she looks so adorable in it :-) THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Well, that is about all for now!

Take Care!

Saturday, March 12

2011-03-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

So, I have been busy with sewing this week, but I didn't get everything done that I had hoped too.... ahh - so typical me. Anyway, the bags pictured here I made for the game prizes for my friends baby shower today. I love the flowers - it makes me think of spring and summer looking at them :-) (one bag was for the mom-to-be and the other was for the prize winner). (the bags used up the last of this fabric - it was used on the dress I made for Brenna back in August - so sad when one of my favorite fabrics is gone...) (the inside of both bags were different and I made different handles as well - hope the two ladies who have them like my color choices :-)

I also made a gathered clutch bag (I made 4 of these - one as a practice (and since it has some flaws, I get to keep that one, one for my sister and 2 for the shower) - I made this bag with laminated cotton inside - so the bag could be used as a make-up bag or even an ouchy bag for a mom (I saw these online with band-aids, salve, etc. in them). The only problem I see with the laminated cotton is that it isn't washable - just wipe the inside and then the outside of the bag is just surface washable...but anyway - I love this fabric and it is also all gone now - guess I will have to find some new favorites :-)

I made cupcakes for the shower as well. The frosting didn't quite turn out as I had hoped (it was too runny), but it sure tasted good. I made my mom's buttercream frosting recipe and then added fresh strawberries to it - yum, yum!!!

my friend Joy was the host for the shower and she did an amazing job decorating and the food was awesome. Can you tell the baby will be a girl??

the party was at an old renovated school house in the area - it was such a nice place for the baby shower :-)

the guest of honor with the beautiful food table. I forgot to get a close-up of the wonderful desserts - just trust me that they were all worth the calories :-)

the cute gift bags that Joy cut out and then we both assembled - so cute!

the diaper cake that Joy and I put together - so pretty!

one random picture from this week - Brenna's Wed. night dance class - if you look at the picture you can see the older ballet class inside :-)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here.

I have been busy with some craft projects this week (hmm, I made 6 new bags - I guess that isn't too bad, lol) and also 2 burp rags. I had hoped to do a couple other projects, but maybe I will still get those done and give them to the parents after the baby arrives....

I can't think of too much else that went on this week, but I did want to remember that on Tuesday morning when Brenna woke up to put on her costume, she came into my craft room with her shoes in hand to put the dress on right away - I think I made a winner with this one!! (She even took it with her down to Gammy and Papa's house today to show them :-)

Brenna went to a birthday party this morning with Dustin while I was getting stuff ready for the baby shower today - I'm sure she had lots of fun with the party (it was for one of the girls in her dance class).

Well, that is about all I can think of...

Take Care!

Tuesday, March 8

2011-03-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

so, after weeks of waiting on Brenna's part, I finally finished her new Tangled costume (for anyone not in the know - this is the the Disney version of Rapunzel. Brenna loved the movie when she saw it in the theater with Dustin - I stayed with my mom that day and worked on crafts so I am very excited that it comes out on video this month. Especially since we have read all the Tangled books and I know the story now :-) I let Brenna wear her dress to school today - I am missing Carnival/Mardi Gras in Germany this year and today was Fat Tuesday (although the parade and dress up day in the town we lived it would have been yesterday - but then who could Brenna show off her new dress to?)

Brenna also got new summer shoes over the weekend - we can't wait for spring/summer here (Brenna can't wait to get out her new flip flops - mommy found her 3 new pairs (although one is a slipper pair that she can wear now in the house). Brenna had to have the shoes below when she saw the bow, sparkles, and princess heels - love at first sight for her :-)

It was almost 50 degrees at our house today, so I asked Brenna to go outside and model her dress really quick - we were outside for less than 5 minutes, but she was such a little model :-)

modeling in the sunshine in the front window - it was hard to get a real smile, but Brenna loved her new costume from today so much she asked to wear it again tomorrow (and she wouldn't let me hang it in the closet unless she could reach it when she wanted to - I think maybe this one will get more wear than the Princess and the Frog dress...)

Brenna holding the dress I made as a gift for our friend Kora - we missed her birthday party since Brenna was still recovering from her ear infection. There is so much fabric at the bottom that the dress can almost stand on its own - I think we could sew the bottom shut when Kora is done wearing it and it could be a cute bag :-) Brenna loved the dress when I finished Kora's - she can't wait for me to make hers now (but I'm sure she is glad that I finished the Rapunzel dress first).

Brenna with the flower she wore in her hair to school this morning.

gotta show off my new shoes...

after Brenna was almost over her ear infection (Brenna was sick the whole week after the ice festival - talk about a long week here), I made some rice heating pads. The dog one I designed and the owl was a design I found on the Make and Take website.

Brenna's new owl heating pad. She loves it - I heard her ask Dustin to heat it up tonight before bed :-) (I made him out of the scraps from Kora's dress - so cute!)

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are finally starting to get back to normal around here. Brenna was down with an ear infection for a whole week in Feb. (it started right after the Ice Festival). Brenna hasn't had an ear infection since she was a baby - so it made for a very long week here. (she also was feeling awful with a runny nose and sore throat, but thankfully, we are past the antibiotic now and she is feeling great). I was exhausted the week following - not sure if it was the winter blahs or what, but this week we are all feeling better :-)

At the tail end of Brenna's ear infection I found this cute owl heating pad that you fill with rice - I made him in about 2 hours and Brenna was in love - I think I will have to make more of these, but I need to get some more felt first :-) I also made a dog heating pad with rice - I drew the dog free hand - I am pretty impressed with my first pass at that :-)

Since today was Fat Tuesday, I worked yesterday to finish Brenna's Tangled costume that I promised her in January. I think it turned out awesome - Brenna loved it so much she asked to wear it again tomorrow :-) Hopefully she won't abuse it as much the next time she wears it though - we waited in the hall at preschool today for one of Brenna's other friends to be picked up and she crawled on the floor with it and ran up and down the hall - I guess my construction was pretty good as I don't see any noticeable damage to it yet. I made the costume a little bigger at the top in case she still wants to wear it for Halloween - maybe I will be lucky and the dress will still look good at Halloween time and she will want to wear it :-)

Other than that, I need to be busy with projects this week to finish some gifts in time for my friends shower this weekend - just need to figure out exactly what I want to make now...

Take Care!!!

Monday, February 21

2011-02-21T06:17:00.000-08:00

so, here are some pictures from our valentine week. Brenna loved the card she got in the mail from Divine Miss Gammy - almost good enough to eat :-) - below, styling her shades (too bad you can see me in the picture (don't look to closely at the reflection, lol).

I get a lot of tongue shots - it is easier sometimes than a smile shot with my little girl...

Loving her daddy...

we tried out paper towel curlers last week (you just tear a paper towel into strips and then tie them). We didn't have consistent curls at all - I guess I am not to talented at the art of putting paper in her hair, lol!

the results of our paper towel curlers... (Brenna didn't originally want to show any teeth, but we finally found some later in the morning)

before school - she loves her new tangled t-shirts (can you tell that is all she wanted to wear last week)

Yesterday, we were joined by some great friends and went to the ice festival in our town. Before they arrived, we had to check out the new bakery in town (it is for pets). Justice enjoyed one of the yummy treats yesterday.

Ice sculptures - I think this one was my favorite :-)

penguin

angel fish

dog with newspaper

sleigh

pink panther (for the owens corning in town)

i think the castle was one of my favorites (not sure why i didn't try to make my picture straight, but oh, well)

the cups and tee pot at Miss Molly's Tee Room (which we all decided was a little too fancy for our tired little ones)

Had to include my sad eyed dog in a picture - he enjoyed an early morning walk with me on Sunday

A picture of Brenna's valentines. The ones with M&M's went to her preschool and the ones with Smarties went to dance class (I think next year I will just do the ones like the dance class - with my new paper cutter they were really quick and easy - although the ones with candy weren't too bad either (but I was more tempted to eat M&M's than Smarties))

Brenna with her candy heart ring :-)

Hello All!!!!

Hope all is well out there. Brenna started with a fever yesterday evening and isn't feeling so great today :-(

Brenna had a great Valentine's week (who knew she would get so much candy??). We enjoyed the warmer weather last week with a trip to the zoo on Thursday. I think Brenna likes the climbing wall at the zoo more than anything, but at least they have something fun for the kids to do in the winter time there.

I was glad to see the snow gone, but it wasn't fun to have the mud back for Justice's paws, lol. We got a new dusting of snow yesterday evening (with some ice too - yuck). But at least we were back inside the house by then (at least Brenna and I were - Dustin went out for a long run in it).

We enjoyed our town ice festival yesterday with some great friends. After the ice festival, we took Brenna to see Gnomeo and Juliet. She really enjoyed the movie, but I think she was starting not to feel the best. By bedtime, she had a fever running and had a tough time sleeping last night :-( Lets hope she feels better soon! We are going to take it easy here today with a movie marathon I think!

Take Care!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 7

2011-02-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

my poor dog is pretty lazy these days - just lays around and now is subject to Brenna's desire to dress him up. Today, he was modeling Dustin's headset from the X-box.

I love his look in the picture below...

Brenna modeling her new outfit from Divine Miss Gammy - she looks so cute - thanks for everything!!

Brenna almost making a sad face below (I think Justice had it nailed better than she did, but I guess we didn't get any smiles from him today)...

I love her smile below - what an expressive face she has!

Dustin took the picture below when at his parents this weekend - hmm, the snow looks kind of pretty here (but I am still tired of it!)..

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Just had to share some of our recent pictures from here - hope you enjoy them!

Brenna and Dustin enjoyed a trip to his parents over the weekend - I didn't accomplish as much as I hoped, but it was nice to have a little break after all the days Brenna and I were couped up together last week.

Brenna and I worked on cleaning this morning - and is now enjoying watching her new Wiggle video :-)

Well, that is it for today!

Take Care!

Friday, February 4

2011-02-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

so, here is finally a new post (I am having a hard time making it to the computer these days!). I made a new dress for myself above out of some fabric I had laying around here (I think it looks a lot like one of those snuggly blankets at the top - but it is warm and comfortable, lol). Below - Brenna at the start of the fashion show she put on for Dustin and I last Friday evening...

hmm, can you tell she was having fun with this... (although I think the neighbors were all "flashed" as she used the front window area as her dressing room so that I couldn't see her, lol).

getting ready for an outfit change...

Brenna's new pose that she learned in dance class...

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! I am so tired of seeing snow here - when will it finally be spring time??? I am running out of good ideas to keep Brenna and I entertained. Brenna has started taking interest in walking Justice outside again - (although I'm not sure if she just would rather play in the snow - she likes to fall in the snow alot on the walks :-). We walked him together several times last week (not so much this week with the snow storm that came on Tuesday night - guess it about time to get over the weather being cold outside and take him out!).

Brenna has been having fun here with her Kinectimals (we finally bought a Kinect - it is good exercise for our family right now with the weather being so bad outside - Brenna loves playing the track and field too - she is going to be hard to beat soon!). Brenna also likes the bowling (especially in the evening when all 3 of us can play) - guess we may have to take her bowling for real soon.

Brenna's school was closed with the weather on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. She did not want to go to school yesterday, but I think she was fine after I left. (Of course, her favorite pretend game at the moment at home is going off to school - never have any arguments for going to that version :-)

Other than that, not too much going on - trying to get Justice out more for exercise, but it is not great with the weather right now - when will the snow finally leave Ohio?? (I know no one wants to hear me say this - but I miss the mild winters in Germany - I didn't have to deal with the snow balls in Justice's paws there as the snow didn't stick around this long (just rain)). Well, at least we had some sunshine here yesterday and today.

Well, that is all I can think to talk about for now! Hopefully, February will be a better month for my blogging!

Take Care!

Tuesday, January 18

2011-01-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

so, as for our exciting Sunday and Monday - on Sunday, we went to a concert by Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players. He is my FAVORITE kids singers - I love, love, love his songs :-) Brenna had a great time (and commented at the end that he was so handsome - she may have another new crush, lol). (Brenna got her new CD signed by Justin and the Not Ready for Naptime Players - Liam Davis and Gerald Dowd - she loves having autographs already :0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkgAKBljXfU - his Pop Fly video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxMZzCSJqjE - Brenna sparkling at the concert to the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vigHqg6FJw0 - another from the concert
On Monday, we went to see Disney Toy Story 3 on ice. Brenna loved it!

Brenna modeling her new army hat

Brenna was all smiles on the way home...

in other news, I finally learned how to french braid :-) I watched a couple tutorials online and gave it a shot in Brenna's hair - this was my first attempt (obviously I was pretty proud of myself, lol). Brenna was home with me all last week - between snow and colds, we just stayed in all week....

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here (or I hope anyway - Brenna came home early from preschool today with a stomach ache. She seems to be o.k. here so far - maybe the was just hungry and thirsty at school? guess it was a good thing that my sewing morning was cancelled - but I hope my friend is better very soon - Get Well and take care of yourself!!).

Last week Dustin was in Mexico and Brenna and I stayed in all week (we both had very minor colds - mine was only ever a sore throat). Brenna really missed Dustin every day (especially with just me for company!!!). We started a few new projects - hopefully, we will have some pictures to share of them soon - but right now I just have fabric that is cut out, lol.

On Sunday, we went to Cleveland for the Justin Roberts concert. Loved the music - his concert was great! I wish he would have had some more seating - the concrete floor left a lot to be desired!

On Monday, we went to see Toy Story 3 on ice. Brenna loved that too :-) (sorry no pictures from the performance - I just sat and enjoyed it with Brenna and Dustin :-)

Well, that is it for now!

Take Care!

Wednesday, January 12

2011-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

so even though Brenna has a slight cold - she is still smiling for me :-) Above - one of her new Christmas dolls (interesting fact in our house - all dolls are considered Barbies by Brenna - not sure why...). I have been busy making her some cloth hankies for her runny nose (she has 3 right now - we lost the first one I made at Target on the first day she had it - bummer!). I also finished my first two quilts that I made in Germany yesterday and today. I took them to a longarm place to be quilted together - I love the job the person did and her prices were very reasonable.

my corners all looked pretty good - and Brenna loved it so much she slept with it last night...

Brenna pretending to sleep ...

my first tag that I made...

Brenna being silly with her ice pack (she just bumped her head - I don't really think it was bothering her - do you?).

this quilt has hearts in the embroidery - looks great in person :-)

more pretending to sleep (from today)

don't you love the closed eyes and tongue sticking out???

Brenna had to include her hand in the shot with the tag...(I dated it 2010 since all the work but the binding was done in 2010 :-)

I love the shot below - if I send out Valentine's picture cards, I think this would be it :-)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are o.k. here - Brenna has a cold and I feel like I may be starting one :-( Dustin is in Mexico until Saturday (but then we have big plans for Sunday and Monday together as a family :-)

With all the new snow here, I kept Brenna home from preschool yesterday and today (and we also will be missing dance class tonight - but thinking ahead to Sunday and Monday I am hoping for my healthy little girl). I may regret it, but I didn't shovel the driveway today - planning on doing it tomorrow...(we are still supposed to get more snow and blowing snow tonight).

Well, time to get food ready for dinner here - hope you enjoy all the projects I have been working on here :-)

Take Care!

Tuesday, January 4

2011-01-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Another of Brenna's new dresses - she wore this one to school today.

my little performer and her singing...

so sweet...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. Not to much to blog about today, but wanted to get a post up for Divine Miss Gammy and wish her a happy birthday - hope you have a great one!!! We love you!!! (Brenna can't wait for you to come up and play with her toys - she has asked everyday this week if you are coming - I finally put it on her calendar today so that she can count down to Saturday). We had a great time shopping and spending time with you on Sunday - hope you had as much fun as we did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENz9x1-dfmE - Happy Birthday!!

Take Care!

Monday, January 3

2011-01-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

so - here a "few" pictures from the holidays :-) Above - I made Brenna a new tank top play dress - she loves all the sparkle (and I love that this one is washable). She was really impressed that I put all the sparkle on the dress (should I tell her that the fabric came that way...), but she is claiming all the remaining fabric for herself - wonder what else I can make for her out of it.... Brenna got this dress from me on Christmas eve with her Hershey Kiss exchange. So what was our exchange? With our advent tree - the last week, the only items that fit under the small trees that were left were Hershey's Kisses. Brenna doesn't love the kisses like she does some of the other chocolate - so on the 21st - I let her trade the kiss for a Kit Kat, on the 22nd - she traded for a piece of German chocolate that was her favorite, on the 23rd - she traded for the Hannah Montana finger nail polish kit (she had got a couple pieces of that already under those trees), and on the 24th - she didn't even think about keeping the kiss - she was ready to trade as soon as she saw it, lol. Now that the trees are gone - she is missing them - she has asked twice already about her trees in the morning....(although it isn't so much about the tree as it was the gift under them). I think we will be doing another forest next year :-)

my pictures are not in order today - they are in order by the camera that I took the pictures on (and I loaded pictures today from 3 different cameras, lol). So here starts pictures from Christmas at my side. My sister's daughter was not in the mood for pictures from me - this is the only nice smile picture I got from her, but at least the girls are looking good in this picture :-)

Ally on the other hand is always in the mood for a picture - you can hardly stop her from being in front of the camera once you get started :-) (although if you are noticing the child in the pink - she wanted to be in all my pictures that day too :-)

Ally and Sophie

our little models...Ally's family got a new puppy - Snickers sure is a cutie!

hmm - I think the girls needed to slide a little closer together for this one.... (oh, and Brenna was teaching Ally how to put her arm out for the picture - I think we are in trouble, lol).

big hugs!

this was one of my favorite pictures - (of course once Ally was down - she did get tickled attacked before being allowed back up by the other kids, lol).

what a good looking group here

the day after the party, the older kids all came over to my parent's house. Alexis asked about face painting - and this was our selection :-) (I may have to practice more if this is a continuous request :-) My face paints wash off a little easier than these did, but the girls all looked pretty with the paint on for the afternoon :0) The girls all wanted to match - thank goodness :0)

the ringleader :-)

the face painting even looking good with PJs

(what secrets are they whispering???)

Brenna discovered one of her hats at Gammy and Papa's house - love the pink hat :-)

giggles...

Brenna got some new outfits while celebrating Divine Miss Gammy's birthday yesterday (Gammy thank you so much - she loves the outfits - she couldn't wait to get dressed this morning in the blue one - she has already selected the other one to wear tomorrow).

not sure why she was holding the pink shirt here... but looking adorable. (I may have to consider modifying some of her t-shirts that she already has like this so she will want to wear them - I think I have all the fabric here to do the skirt attachment!)

On Christmas eve, our family went ice skating together for the 1st time. Brenna loved it - she was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. (and lucky for me, Dustin has good balance, so he was able to help Brenna go around the whole time)

if you like this picture - be sure to check out my video links below :-)

Christmas at Dustin's parents :-) Brenna loved her cool new gifts

Uncle Steven picked some perfect PJ's - Brenna loves them and the matching slippers!

hugs with Gammy and Papa

another out of order shot - my sister and I getting our self picture in :-)

Brenna modeling my new slippers that Santa brought for me...

loving the sunglasses here :-)

Gammy bought Brenna 3 very cute dresses yesterday - she couldn't wait to put them on (in fact, she changed at the store into this one to wear at the mall yesterday).

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Hope everyone reading had a wonderful holiday - I was on a blogging break during the holidays :-)

Lots of pictures for you to enjoy today (so I'm going to take a break from writing too much here). We had a great Christmas holiday - Brenna declared it the best so far :-)

Here are some videos of Brenna's first ice skating experience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFeRBFyRNjc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUEEuZoLT0s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw-za8AZK6w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH1xjUbG5o0

Right before Christmas I also took my 1st two finished quilts to a person for long arm quilting - they look great. Once I get the binding attached I will be sure to get some pictures up ;-)

Hopefully, by the end of January, I will finally have all my Christmas gifts finished - I feel awful that I didn't finish any of my sister's gifts (guess I will have to make her something extra special to go with her gifts :-)

Well, that is all for now - take Care!

(oh, and we all are wishing Justice a happy birthday here - he turned 7 yesterday!) Happy birthday to our great dog!

Thursday, December 23

2010-12-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

so the picture above was taken by a very nice photographer at Dustin's Christmas party (Sylvart Studios). Our free 5 x 7 is going in Brenna's room - I think it is a nice picture of Dustin and I :-) I wanted to post it to show off the pretty dress that I made to attend the party in - I think this pattern is a winner :-) (too bad you couldn't see my awesome boots - I may have to take a picture of just them to put on the blog - I think they are great (and they were my treat instead of buying a dress - I bought shoes). (and another winning feature of this pattern is that it was quick and easy - Dustin didn't tell me we were going to a semi-formal party for Saturday until Wednesday - so I think I managed to pull together a pretty nice look).

we had a small Christmas party this week in Wooster for our girls. Brenna loves her gifts - she did a whole fashion show for my parents on the computer with her new magnetic doll (and also for Mikayla) and we have read her new book every afternoon and evening this week :-) Annika and Joy - Thank you guys so much for the great gifts!! I made some gift items for Annika and Joy's little girls (and can now finally fit all my fleece in my closet - hmm - maybe I can give some more big fleece gifts to some more young children and finally be able to fit all my fabric in my closet - lol!) I made a Big Bird sleeping type bag - it was so big I think it could have fit all 3 girls inside, lol (sorry no pictures from my camera - I was trying to minimize the amount of dog hair it left my house with so I didn't have any spots to show it). I made a pillow clover for Joy's little girl below. The first picture she had just hugged it - I think she liked it and it was very soft (too bad it didn't really resemble the bear that it was to be...I think it would have helped if I would have made the nose bigger - but I used my embroidery program and it made just a tiny bear nose...)

I was busy yesterday (and this morning too, lol) making aprons for Brenna's school teachers (today was PJ day at school - I'm sure the teachers were thrilled that I decided to snap their picture this morning, lol). (If you click on the picture you can see the colors a little bit better - the main color was pink (of course - these were from Brenna) and then the tie and pockets were a mix of yellow, orange, and pink.

Merry Christmas - our Christmas cards have now been sent, but I'm sure they won't reach most of you until after the holiday - have a great one!

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! I am still very busy with my holiday crafting - I think I got a little carried away this year!

Brenna did have school this week, so it has helped me with getting most of my projects completed. I even have most all of our gifts wrapped - just need to decorate them with ribbon :-)

Well - I probably won't post again until after the holidays - hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Take Care!

Wednesday, December 15

2010-12-15T06:27:00.001-08:00

So - we had a snow day here yesterday (when the schools cancel - Brenna's preschool closes too - imagine at 4 she is already looking forward to snow days, lol!). Anyway - Brenna's Christmas dress was finally clean again, so of course it was what she wanted to wear today. At least she decided to model for me (notice the microphone in her hand - I of course was then labeled as a "fan" - but at least she gave me her autograph too!). (Not sure why she wanted to wear her headband that way - I think it is supposed to go the other way - but when I put it on that way, she changed it back...)

She had to show off her pretty nails and bracelets...

hmmm - Justice has gotten a little too comfortable with my couches....

We made Christmas cookies on Monday (thanks for sending everything Gammy - Brenna had lots of fun decorating with me and putting them on the pan to bake too!)

Thought I would show off a picture of Brenna's room - the only thing left to do is add her curtain and then it will be pretty much decorated :-)

My niece turned 5 and I was finally able to make it to her birthday party (we just missed her parties the last 2 years). She picked out her awesome cake! Happy Birthday Ally!!

We also had fun with some self-taken pictures. Ally thought the camera was great fun (especially when I turned it over to her to take some pictures at the party - thanks Ally for the pictures - I love your view of the party!)

hmmm - how many people can we fit in with my arm outstretched...

I almost got all 4 of us in this one...

then, Ally took pictures with almost everyone at the party (I think she missed one of her uncles there, but she got almost everyone else :-)

I love these faces - what a ham!!!

what great faces you make!

such nice smiles from the girls!!!

Ally with some of her birthday presents - she loved the apron she got from my grandma and grandpa and also the headbands, jewelry and makeup :-)

so sweet!

Ally modeling her new lipstick - I love the red!!!

Justice and Brenna out in the snow last week. She still loves playing on her swingset even in the cold weather - brrr... (we are working on taking Justice up the slide and down. We found out yesterday that he did pretty well climbing the slide itself rather than the stairs - we took him on those last week (which was hard work for me, lol)).

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are good here - lots of snow of though! Brenna is loving the winter snow so far - wonder how long that will last??? (She is really relating snow to Christmas - wonder what she will think of all the after Christmas snow, lol).

Our craft fair that I posted the pictures of didn't go as well as we had hoped, but at least my mom, sister, and I had a fun time visiting! I had a chance to attend my niece's birthday party the next day (Brenna stayed home with Dustin - they had lots of fun at a German friend gathering with some of his coworkers). I love all the pictures my niece took with my camera at the party :-)

Last week, Brenna only had school 2 days due to the bad weather (snow and blowing snow) (looks like this week will be the same - she went today, but not yesterday). Our neighbor came over last week and played with Brenna on Tuesday when school was closed - Brenna had lots of fun with that! We made soap after we came in (even though Brenna just wanted to play with her friend, lol). Dustin's company Christmas party was on Saturday evening, but he didn't decide to go until the middle of the week (or at least he didn't tell me about it until then!). But, I was able to make a nice dress to wear (or at least a very comfortable one, lol - got to love stretchy fabric!). (and since I saved money with using fabric I already had and a pattern I already had - I treated myself to new boots for the party :-) Brenna stayed overnight with Dustin's parents (and of course had a lot of fun!!) and we had a great time at the party. The company had a nice meal and then a casino night - (crazy to think for me - even with fake money I didn't like to loose it, lol). The dealers were all very good at handing out chips though!

We had a big snow storm that started here on Sunday and closed schools yesterday and Monday. Glad that with our current schedule Brenna and I could just stay inside with the icky weather outside. We did go out and play in the snow yesterday once all the blowing finally slowed down. I'm sure Brenna would have liked to play outside longer than I let her, but she still had fun playing in the snow on her swingset :-)

Other than that, I am working on Christmas gifts here still - sure I am not going to get them all finished in time (and my Christmas cards are behind too! Where did all my time go??) Oh, well - I may have to send everyone New Year greeting cards, lol!

Anyway, take care!!

Friday, December 3

2010-12-03T10:51:00.001-08:00

my little model (and I just had to bribe her with a kit kat this morning for the work - what a bargin)

kids aprons - available in a rainbow of colors :-)

heart shaped potholders below

Hello All!!!

Thought I would share some pictures of the crafts my mom, sister, and I are selling tomorrow in Decatur, IN. We will be at Wyneken Memorial Lutheran School, 11565N, US Highway 27, Decatur, IN. Dec. 4th, 9 am-3 pm. Next to St. John Lutheran Church, + Bingen. 10 mi. south of Ft Wayne and 7 miles north of Decatur. We will have more in addition to this - would love to see you there :-)

Thursday, December 2

2010-12-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

Brenna went shopping with her Divine Miss Gammie over the holiday weekend. She loves her new clothes (she said the new dress with the long sleeves is her favorite new dress!) So here are some of her model looks with them :-)

Brenna picked this dress to wear today - guess it turned out to be a great choice when we went to see Santa today (although I'm not sure it was a great choice for playing outside at school today, lol).

Hello All!!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things have been very busy here (procrastination at any age is bad - and I being that I have always been a procrastinator - so needless to say, I have lots to still do before the craft show my mom and sister and I are participating in this weekend).

Tonight Brenna and I went to the local library - they had Santa and Mrs. Claus visiting - doesn't she look sweet with them this year :-) We also got to see 2 live reindeer there as well :-) (and they had cookie treats and make and takes - wow!).

Well, I need to get the house in some sort of order and then get back to my crafts!

Take Care!

Tuesday, November 23

2010-11-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

My sad doggy above.... Brenna below styling her new hair ties (and Renee - these really were fairly easy to put in :-) Also one of the new dresses we bought at the outlet mall on Sunday :-)

Our Christmas forest for Advent - I will be putting something under these 24 trees soon (although I think I will wait until the 30th - wonder how Brenna will do being patient with one tree a day :-) (the trees were really all supposed to be in green, but I decided to use the paper I had here in the house today - I don't think it is too bad - we even added some glitter glue and Brenna had fun playing with the paper and glitter glue :-) (I do think that Brenna's new favorite candy bar will have to go under some trees - her favorite chocolate from Halloween was by far the Kit Kats (which she calls Kitty Kats).

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. I just couldn't resist sharing Brenna's cute hair/outfit today and our little forest of trees.

Other than that really not too much going on. Yesterday morning, Brenna and I worked on cleaning the bathrooms and then we went to the stores in the afternoon. She did really well at the stores and was rewarded with a new chapstick at Target :-) (I was going to get it anyways - darn those dollar bins at Target having such cute stuff). Brenna is doing much better this week (bummer - no more naps again - a mom can hope that maybe we will have a few more, but no luck - but I am glad that she is feeling better). Today, Brenna had preschool and then we stayed in the rest of the day.

Well, that is all for now!

Take Care!

Sunday, November 21

2010-11-21T11:04:00.001-08:00

hmm - I'm a little behind on my blogging (starting to be a once-a-week blog instead of a daily blog...). Above, Brenna and my mom having fun at the park together :-) Don't you love her sense of style??

Brenna was supposed to be showing my mom how to model below - can you tell she wasn't interested in being included in the picture, lol!

my little model finally came out today - I got to play photographer and she played superstar :-) (hmm, I think maybe it is the dress - I may have sequins all over my house, but I do believe I have a performer). In case you can't tell, Dustin and Brenna decided it was time for the Christmas tree to be up, so yesterday morning they got busy putting up the tree :-)

she loves the little red sweater that came with the Christmas dress from Rusty last year (in fact, she loves the dress and even wore it to preschool this week - she loves anything girly and sleeveless right now :-)

hugging the Grinch. Brenna and daddy watched the movie this morning together - she said this year that it didn't scare her :-)

awww...

lots of sun in my living room today :-)

Brenna's favorite shoes...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. Brenna came down with a cold the middle of last week, so not much to report here. I guess I should have known something was coming since we have had some afternoon naps here...

Brenna did help with the cleaning on Monday (our cleaning day - maybe one day Brenna will take these over for me - maybe I am dreaming a little too much, lol). Brenna went to preschool on Tuesday and Wednesday, but she didn't sleep well on Wednesday night and woke up with a sore throat and a stuffy nose, so we stayed home together. We did go out for some cold medicine and to pick up our mini-posters I ordered (Brenna's room is finally almost all together - now just to finish the curtains - I took some new pics of her room - I will try to share them soon!), but that was it. (We were very bummed to miss our afternoon at McDonald play area - especially as I told Brenna on Wednesday evening that we would go play with friends :-( Hopefully, we will be able to get together another time soon.)

With Brenna's cold medicine, she has slept well the past few nights and she is eating well, so I'm sure she won't be down long with the head cold. (although I question if she is ever really down - she always seems to have an abundance of energy, unlike me lately...). Brenna is also getting really good at her new board games - her two favorites are Chutes and Ladders and Candyland right now (and she has definetly figured out the object is to win and doesn't like to lose. Comically, when my sister called the other day, we were playing one of the games and I won - Brenna looked at me and said "Good Job" and then ran away to cry because she lost - hmmmm...It didn't take her long to recover and we played some other games. But, she did better with the loss yesterday and we just quickly moved onto another game, no problem...).

Yesterday, Brenna and Dustin put up the Christmas tree in the morning and then went out shopping in the afternoon. I should have started on some of my crafting, but instead took a nice relaxing bath and walked the dog (and vegged in front of the TV - I will watch just about anything on TV, not good for my ambitious craft fair projects!). Luckily my sister called and broke me out of my TV spell or the dog probably wouldn't have been walked.

Brenna played model for me today - I just loved the outfit that Dustin and her decided on today - it just made me smile :-)

Well, I think that is about it!

Take Care!

Sunday, November 14

2010-11-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

The girls enjoying the zoo on Monday. Brenna loved pulling Emma all around the zoo...I love her cute little curls below :-)

Brenna and my mom with the lion at the zoo

Hello All!!!

November here is flying by! I can't believe we are already half way through (and I can't believe what a bad blogger I have been lately - I mean really, my last post was on the 1st! -ack!).

My mom came up last week - what a great weather week to be in Ohio. We enjoyed going to the zoo with our good German friends on Monday :-) Both the girls got to feed the penguins and then we had a nice stroll through the zoo. On Tuesday, after Brenna got out of school we went to the park and played on the great playground there. Wednesday, Brenna had her normal dance class which she continues to love - the girls were a little more distracted in class as the teacher was a substitute (how can 3 and 4 year olds already know how to take advantage of a substitute??). Thursday, we had a Dove Chocolate party in the evening - I think Brenna would like to have one of these for all her little friends - I don't know where she gets her social butterfly personality - I wish some of it would rub off on me, lol. On Friday before my mom left, we made more soap - Brenna loves to pick out the colors, but got a little impatient that things were taking so long... Brenna loved having a guest for the week - she is ready for Divine Miss Gammy to come up anytime :-)

Yesterday, we went to visit Dustin's Grandma in the hospital. We really hope she is going to recover well from all of her recent operations. Brenna had lots of fun with Dustin's mom exploring the hospital - I think she could have stayed and played all over the hospital with Divine Miss Gammy :-)

Dustin was at last weeks Browns game - at least he got to enjoy their victory last week as they didn't pull out a win today :-(

I'm going to be busy the next couple weeks working on stuff to sell at a craft fair my mom signed up to do - lots of cute ideas in my head - hopefully they will get finished in time :-) I cut out some items today - I better have a busy week of sewing while Brenna is in school (the house work may have to suffer...)

Well, I know I am forgetting most of what has been going on, but that about covers it.

Monday, November 1

2010-11-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

o.k. - I know there is no smile on Brenna in this picture - but isn't it a great face for the background???

Brenna loving her Uncle Steven...

Adoring her Uncle Steven...

Brenna and Isabel before trick-or-treating in our neighborhood (the kids got a ton of candy...) (Brenna decided to wear the adorable dress that Dustin's parents bought for her - I wish she would have let me take a full length shot - the dress is so cute on her).

One of the piles of candy on the floor after trick or treating (this was Anthony's and he sorted out his favorite - the Nestle Crunch bars).

Brenna and I decided an afternoon at the zoo would be fun today. The animals were all enjoying the cooler weather. Brenna enjoyed feeding the penguins today (the winter activity at the zoo since the Carousel and the train are closed for the season - we were bummed about the Carousel - but Brenna loved feeding the penguins - even if her hands did smell fishy after, lol).

The snow leopard was right at the glass today - can you see how close Brenna was to him??

the tiger also was coming right up to the glass today...

Brenna loves climbing the wall after the jellyfish at the zoo. Don't you just love her outfit choice for the day? She had to go dressy since she is loving her new glitter shoes...

modeling her earrings that I found when I cleaned up my craft room this weekend. We almost have all the rooms unpacked now...

At least they did have one carousel animal that Brenna could sit on today....

She really wasn't in the mood to model our new chef hat today - I made a smaller size today (I made what the pattern called the kids small yesterday - it fits my head, not exactly right for my 4 year old... I think my resize is much better for kids)

Hello All!!!

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween out there (and happy belated birthday to Brayden - hope you had a great day!).

Brenna had a chance to dress up several times for Halloween (so much that she was tired of the Tiana costume I made her :-(

She wore the purple dress (that I made her for the May visit to Disney) on Thursday to preschool (and or course she wanted me to wear my matching one - what great attire for cleaning the house in, lol). I had her wear the Tiana costume on Saturday for trick-or-treating at Dustin's parents. She wasn't quiet sure about trick-or-treating there, but had a fun time handing out the candy and then playing with the grandparents, Steven, Margee and Kingston. She really got into the trick-or-treating after going with Isabel and Shannon yesterday. Brenna said at the zoo today that she is ready to go again - too bad she will have to wait until next year now, lol.

Today, Brenna and I went to the zoo after we did some bathroom cleaning this morning. Brenna enjoyed feeding the penguins (the zoo lets you buy fish for the penguins since the Carousel and the train are closed for the winter). The platform got a little crowded with some school kids when we fed them, but Brenna enjoyed throwing the fish into the water. We came home and played in the backyard a little bit - Brenna loves her swingset. She loved that our friends Carsten and Emma came up yesterday and enjoyed the swingset (but wasn't especially fond of sharing her inside toys).

My craft room is almost all put away (hmm - I am thinking with my clutter tendencies that it my be at its best - maybe I should take a picture now of what it should look like, lol).

Well, that is it for today!

Take Care!

Thursday, October 28

2010-10-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Our frozen banana ghosts - aren't they cute? (and tasty too :-)

(this one got some coconut on it - hmm, wonder who ate that one, lol)

Brenna's dance class all dressed up - aren't they cute... Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there.

The weather hasn't been as pleasant to be outside so we are trying to find fun things to do inside (so far I this week I have lost my inspiration - however, today I managed to get Brenna out to McDonald's play area and then to the bead shop). I have had a lingering head ache around here - hopefully it will be gone soon....

I sewed on the day with the worst weather here. Other than that, not really too much going on.

Well, got to go!

Take Care!

Monday, October 25

2010-10-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

two of my yummy snacks I made to eat today (we made them for a craft morning with friends, but were very bummed that our host got sick - please feel better soon - we would love to make the pizza muffins (below) to share (and also our yummy frozen banana ghost (pics of that to follow in our next post)). The bread above was a sun-dried tomato and basil bread - it was really good (but probably not going to be made again as the jar with the sun-dried tomato and basil was way too expensive for me to buy again :-(

Can you believe my little model below (check out her favorite shoes of mine - I think she would like me to wear them on a daily basis - but I kind of think they look better on her, lol). (She felt the need to dress up today after looking at our wedding pictures with all our pretty dresses - I was surprised that this was the dress she picked, but she did look great in it).

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things have been staying busy here. Last week Dustin was in Detroit all week - boy did Brenna and I miss having him home.

I wasn't really feeling like myself last week, so we really didn't do too much (we did however do two crafts - Brenna and I did some paper mache - (although we aren't finished with that project yet - so you will have to wait to see the finished item there and I made earrings, (I of course did got a little carried away with them and made 3 new pairs and bought some clip ons for Brenna as she is all about the accessories right now)). Brenna had school pictures last week too - can't wait to see those as she looked so cute in her braids that morning when she left :-)

Well, that is about all I can remember from last week (I guess I better start posting more frequently again, lol).

Take Care!

Saturday, October 16

2010-10-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

above the bib I made for the birthday party last weekend - hope they get some wear out of it. I loved the binding I made and the little monkey turned out so cute. Below, Brenna and I on one of the hayrides from the fall tour last Sunday.

Dustin's parents - aren't they a cute couple!!!

Brenna enjoying one of her new gifts from Gammy - this dog is very silly and rolls on the floor laughing - Brenna loves it!

And now - these pictures were all taken by Brenna - she is becoming such the little photographer (hmm, wonder where she gets that from, lol). (If you look closely in the picture below, you can see her reflection in the door)

Pictures from the birthday party last weekend - Brenna took all of these as well - she did a really great job!

Below - I don't know if the adults below realized how well Brenna will take your picture. I really had to resist putting up the silly faces that they made for Brenna (they were some of her best pictures too!!!).

Hello All!!

Happy Birthday to my mom today - hope you have a great day!!!!

Last weekend we went to a great birthday party for our friends from Germany (who are living here in the US - I sure missed them when they moved here, but I am glad we can visit with them here). I think I need to have my friend plan future kids parties for me - it was a great party - she had great activities for the kids and even sent home a really nice goody bag :-) The food was really, really good too (way better than my easy pizza party I had for Brenna - I would like to say in my defense that we didn't have any of our stuff back from Germany at that point, but reality is that Brenna has had a lot of pizza parties for her birthday - maybe next year we will do something different). One really neat thing from the party is that in Germany the kids don't have to wait to open their gifts at the party - the kids get to open the gifts up as the guests arrive - I think we will do that at Brenna's party next year, so be prepared for that, lol :-) It was great to get to visit with the friends that we have in common and also meet the great new friends that our friends have met since moving to the US.

We also went on the fall tour here in Medina last weekend with Dustin's parents. We had such a great day for our outing. We went to one of the farms on the list first (which I really would not do again - the horses looked starved and that stop wanted to charge for all their activities - boo to you). Then we went to a Christmas tree farm and an apple orchard and enjoyed our hayrides there. The Christmas tree farm had homemade doughnuts and fresh apple cider - yum! They also had a chestnut tree - I have missed seeing them this fall in our area (they were everywhere in our town in Germany). The apple orchard was very crowded, so we did the hayride there and then headed back home. We went out for ice cream to complete our day - we had a really great time (and Brenna even told me that in the car on the way home :-)

As I said yesterday, this week has been focused on Brenna's dress - I didn't even get laundry done this week I was so busy with it in the mornings when she was at school :-)

Well, take care!

Oh, I almost forgot, we made an online paper from our first hayride a couple weeks ago - you can check out the pictures and the story here : http://blog.cleveland.com/medinasun/2010/10/hay_ride_season_in_full_swing.html

Friday, October 15

2010-10-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Brenna striking a pose in her Tiana costume outside before Boo at the Zoo (above). Below riding the panda at the zoo - she just looks too cute! (I think she looks pretty regal - guess she should since she is a princess)... (I made the yellow fleece cover up too - it has a feather tie - so cute. We found the gloves at Target - I think they were a great accessory to the dress).

Brenna with her prince - Naveen...

Brenna modeling earlier this week with her new princess gloves and crown (not sure where her hand pose started, but she just keeps doing it with the gloves - hmm, maybe it is something in the gloves, lol). (I love that her foot is even pointed)

Brenna modeling once the dress once completed today.

Brenna holding up Naveen - her prince...

I love her smile in this one...

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there. I have had a busy week of sewing this week. We went to Boo at the Akron Zoo tonight, so I was on a deadline to get Brenna's Halloween costume done (and I really think it turned out great (other than the awful time I had putting the zipper in - but it is in and works now, so at least it was done in time...). Dustin and I also celebrated our anniversary this week too :-) (we are even going to have a date night tomorrow thanks to Dustin's parents :-) (we have several more outings planned with this costume - so look for more pictures in the costume coming soon - can't wait to see the girls at dance class in a couple weeks). I need to get the pictures up that Brenna took at the birthday party we attending last weekend - she was a very good photographer!

Well, that is it for tonight!

Take Care!

Tuesday, October 5

2010-10-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

Brenna's Minnie pumpkin all carved out :-) Dustin bought me a new cutting tool from Wal-Mart (at the bargin price on $1). I think she turned out pretty awesome. Now the only problem is that I don't want to set them outside - I think they maybe my table centerpieces for the month, lol.

Our project from this afternoon (below). Can you tell we are loving Disney this Halloween (there are some great ideas right now on http://family.go.com/disney/disney-halloween-crafts-and-recipes-photo-gallery-pg/ - 31 ideas to be exact, wonder how many we might try before Halloween??). Brenna was a great help with these - she did great rolling the dough (it is a salt and flour dough - not for eating, but in hindsight, I wish I would have made them edible and done my white moulding chocolate - but then again, I have been eating enough sweets lately...)

We made 6 of the Mickey pumpkins - Brenna painted two of them - I think she would give the project a thumbs up :-) (Although I ignored the directions to wear gloves when mixing in the food coloring - oops - I know have some very nice pink stained hands, lol).

I like the one that Brenna painted in the front - it looks like Mickey has hair to me :-)

Hello All!!!

Hope all is well out there! Things are going o.k. here - Dustin has a cold coming on - hopefully Brenna and I won't get it and it won't be terrible for Dustin.

We made some baked flour and salt Mickey pumpkins today (not edible). They were a fun time and I think they look pretty close to the inspiration ones. Brenna wanted to make tiny balls, but she got the idea of the bigger ones when I worked with her on them. (although we made the orange pumpkins first and then she was a little confused on the size for the black ears, but she caught on pretty well). Brenna even did pretty well putting the toothpicks in the ears - I think I should have put a little black paint on the top of the sticks, but maybe if we do this project again we will have it all figured out (although if we do it again - I may go for edible ones, lol). Now, we will just have to monitor Justice and make sure that he doesn't eat them (I'm sure the paint we used (and the toothpicks) wouldn't be good to eat). Brenna painted two of the pumpkins when they cooled - she actually did a pretty good job painting in the lines, but continued painting more on the front after she painted in the lines first (guess I should have been handing them to her and moving them quicker, lol). But, I think they all look cute.

I was impressed at Wal-Mart today that someone thought all my rain gear looked fashionable :-) (I think it is very fashionable - but I'm biased). Whoever that person is - thank you for brightening my day :-)

Well, I need to get Brenna to bed!

Take Care!

Monday, October 4

2010-10-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Our pumpkins from yesterday - we pulled out the insides this morning and got one carved.... I don't really remember carving a pumpkin before this, so I am going to say this is my first. I think Brenna likes it! (Although this was a practice one so that we can do the face she picked out later - I'm going to have to get a better carving knife 1st). I'm pretty proud of my pumpkin :-)

Anybody want to come carve out Brenna's Minnie Mouse?? - the inside has already been cleaned out and all the markings are on the pumpkin - now just need to get brave enough to carve it out.

Hello All!!!

Thought you all might enjoy our project pictures from this morning. Brenna had lots of fun helping pull out the pumpkin insides. Brenna picked Minnie Mouse for hers and I picked a classic face for mine (or maybe I should say Dustin's - my pumpkin was too small to do a face on).

Well, off to enjoy some movie time this afternoon - it is too cold and rainy for me to want to be out in it today :-)

(I also am trying to redesign some of my old jeans into new skirts right now - look for pictures coming soon)

Take Care!

Sunday, October 3

2010-10-03T12:31:00.001-07:00

Above, Brenna's pumpkin that she decorated at the Harvest Festival at the local library yesterday. I love her faces that she draws right now :-). Below at the Pumpkin Patch close by.

I loved their scarecrows...

I love how my little cowgirl dressed up for the pumpkin patch, lol. She loves dresses right now and that is all she wants to wear (she had on her new princess tutu dress and also the skirt that I made her - she looked so cute - oh, and of course jewelry too!). We did wear our rain boots (well, at least Brenna and I did) - don't we look fashionable :-)

eating the yummy apples they shared - I am going to have to find some more of that variety - Brenna ate 2 while we were there (one before the hayride and one after).

In the pumpkin patch - getting ready to pick a big pumpkin (of course after she realized that she couldn't lift the big pumpkin up, she was interested in my little pumpkin that I picked - I bet she will have more interest in her big one again if we decide to carve them tomorrow, lol).

hmm - what happened to Brenna's face - I think the hat looks a little Holly Hobby...

posing on the wagons before we left for the day...

modeling with her pumpkin when we got back home (hmm, where is that pumpkin - it was between her feet).

she wasn't really that interested in holding it up for me...

Hello All!!

Hope all is well out there. Things are good here. We tried to do some of the fall activities here in town this weekend - we went to a Harvest Festival at one of the local libraries yesterday and then to a nearby Pumpkin Patch today. Overall it has been a pretty quiet weekend - hmm, maybe I should have worked on finishing the rest of the unpacking...

Well, hope you enjoy all the pictures - I guess I was a little camera happy, lol.

Take Care!